


Tell me all your secrets, Mr. Stark

by Red_City



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Broken Bones, Confession, F/M, Getting Together, Hurt Tony, Idiots in Love, Implied Relationships, Implied Torture, Injured Tony, Kidnapping, Love, M/M, Pet Names, Pining, Protective Steve, Revelation, Sarcasm, Sass, Secrets, Sexual Content, Smut, Tony Feels, Torture, Truth Serum, Video, bad guy, distraction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-22
Updated: 2013-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-05 14:24:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1094996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_City/pseuds/Red_City
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony gets kidnapped and Steve is not happy. The bad guys use a truth serum on Tony and everyone learns that Mr. Stark has been keeping some secrets.</p><p>Edits (thank you!) by DirtyanonsofThedas</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tell me all your secrets, Mr. Stark

"JARVIS," Tony said automatically, not fully awake yet. "What time is it?" No answer.

"JARVIS?"

Tony sat up and instantly regretted it, his head swimming and a dull, throbbing pain radiating from the back of his skull.

"What the fu - " He stopped, taking in his surroundings for the first time. The last thing he remembered was working in the shop, spread out on the floor with new schematics for a new repulsor. He had been trying to up the output by 30% for weeks and had decided to spread it all out and take it apart and put it back together again to see if that worked. He had assumed he fell asleep on the floor, it having been 30-odd hours since he had come out of the shop.

He was not in the shop now.

It was dark, but looking around Tony could make out four walls, a door with no handle, a table and a large window - interrogation room style. He had been laying on the floor next to the table - what looked like steel - and hauled himself up with it now.

"Hello?" He asked to the empty room, and brought a hand up to his head. He felt like his brain was too big for his skull, and it was going to split open. Whoever had put him in here had drugged him up something fierce.

"Hey! I'm awake now, come give me your demands!" He had obviously been kidnapped - well, hopefully kidnapped because Tony was having trouble making up any other scenario that explained all this. He stood up completely, slowly, as to not make his head explode again, and walked over to the door.

"Tony-fuckin-Stark here, at your service! Let me out now!" He banged on the door with his fist, and though the noise hurt his head, keep banging until his hand hurt.

"Fuck," he said, and rested his head against the cool door. He stayed there for a minute, and then his eyes flicked over to the window. It looked just like the one way mirrors in the TV shows, big and reflective. He moved over towards it and crossed his arms, standing in front of it.

"I know there is someone or someTHING back there, and you stuffed me in here, and you're doing a really shitty job of the whole kidnapper thing because you're not threatening me or anything."

There was no response.

"HELLO!" Tony yelled, and smacked his hand against the glass. He lifted a foot up to kick it, and kept kicking and kicking until his leg got tired and he had to stop. He took a step back and ended up leaning against the table, staring at the glass, unbroken.

"Shit."

Tony walked around the room, scanning for anything that would give him a clue as to where he was - or get him out. It was impossible to see, though, because there was basically no light coming from the single bulb in the middle of the ceiling. It just made the room look dusty. With nothing else to do, Tony started dragging the table around the room, feeling all over the room and up the walls and across the ceiling, trying to find a weak spot.

_=_=_=_

"Captain Rogers, I am sorry to wake you sir, but there is an emergency."

Steve blinked a few times, registering JARVIS' voice and the lights slowly coming up in his room.

"Emergency? What emergency."

"Mr. Stark has been forcibly taken from the building and drugged, and has presumably been kidnapped."

"What?!" Steve shouted, throwing the blanket off of him and shooting upright. "JARVIS, how did they get in? Why didn't you wake me sooner?"

"I apologize, Captain, but my security protocols were overridden and my system was temporarily frozen. I had to do a full reboot in order to function properly and that process takes approximately thirty minutes. I woke you as soon as I was able."

"Okay, thank you, JARVIS - have you woken anyone else yet?" Steve said, his voice muffled by the shirt he was pulling over his head.

"Yes, captain - I have woken the whole team, and Agent Romanov is on her way to your location."

Steve almost tripped over himself trying to find his uniform pants, he was moving so fast, and there was a knock on the door shortly after.

"Yeah!" Steve shouted, and Natasha stepped inside.

"Did you - " Steve started, but then Natasha started talking over him, her face expressionless, as it usually was in a crisis.

"I looked over the security footage - three big guys, some sort of military. All wearing masks. Not too smart though, they were pretty sloppy. Probably left evidence all over Tony's shop. Left the gun they shot him with - "

"GUN?!" Steve shouted, spinning around to face her.

" - and the dart, which was probably full of tranquilizers." She raised an eyebrow and Steve exhaled, calming himself down. _Tranquilizer, not bullet. Good. Okay._

"I have JARVIS scanning for DNA traces left behind that could help identify who they were, and he's also running a sweep online to see if he can pick out the symbol one of them had on his jacket."

"I was just out front, they were in a van and we can use security footage to pick up a license plate," Clint said, stepping into place beside Natasha.

"There was something in the shop," Bruce said quietly, appearing from behind the two assassins. Steve's heart jumped up in his chest.

"What?" He asked, and Bruce passed a piece of paper up to him. Steve hands were shaking as he read the hand-written words.

**5 MILLION OR HE DIES**

Steve looked up at the other three, his mouth hanging slightly open. His knees felt a little weak and he had to take a step backwards to steady himself.

"Shit," Clint said, reading the paper. "At least they're straightforward."

Natasha smacked him and Bruce took the paper back.

"Tony," Steve whispered to himself, and marched out the door to search the building for evidence.

 

_=_=_=_

 

Tony had no idea how long he had been here, as he was terrible at managing time. It seemed like forever. He had inspected every square inch of the room, having spent most of the time on the door and window, trying to find a weakness. He was currently trying to maneuver the table onto it's side and try and stab through the window with the steel leg, but it was heavier than he had expected. He was lifting the thing from behind, attempting to get it to slide into the glass, and when the full weight of the table fell on him he was unprepared. The steel cut through his fingers and he dropped it, leaping backwards so it didn't land on top of him. He wasn't quite fast enough and the edge of the tabletop landed right on his foot.

"FUUUUUUUUCK!" Tony shouted, falling on his butt, trapped by the table. "Who the FUCK makes a table this goddamn heavy, it has no purpose, no reason, Jesus Christ!"

He reached forward to pull his foot out from underneath the steel, but at this angle, he didn't think he could lift it.

"Motherfucker," Tony said, wincing in pain, as he tried to pull his foot out. Every time he tugged the pain rose higher until he thought he would pass out. He reached forward once more, breathed out, tried to lift the thing again.

Just then, the door slammed open unexpectedly, making Tony jump and his foot twinge in pain. The light from outside the room was almost blinding after sitting in the dark so long, but also short-lived as the door swung shut almost as suddenly as it had been opened. Two big guys in masks stormed in, picked up the table and moved it across the room in one swift motion. Tony was picked up off the floor and forced into a metal chair, his arms bound by - fuck, TWIST TIES? Really? - and he was sure one of the guys kicked his injured foot on purpose.

The goons stood, sentry-like, on either side of Tony and faced the mirror. They waited, silent.

"Okay, again, you guys are really bad at this game. Like, what do you want? You just gonna stand there?" The two remained still.

"Hello! What does a guy have to do to get some attention around here, Jesus," Tony said. "You know you WANT to look at me, I'm so gosh-darned purty you can't help it."

Nothing.

"Well if you're not interested in my face, there are other things that I will gladly show you boys, if you're into that sort of thing - this isn't the first time I've gotten out of a scrape using something other than my brilliance and hilarity."

"No, Mr. Stark - we are not interested in any of that," a voice came, seemingly from no where. "What I want is something far more precious."

"What the hell - " Tony started, but the voice spoke again. It reminded Tony of a snake, papery and slithery and full of malice.

"Mr. Stark, you know what we want. But I assure you, I am not planning on killing you for it. No, that would rob the world of your continued genius - there surely will be more miracles to come, so I am keeping you alive as a future investment. Now, however, I would like the secret to the arc-reactor technology."

Tony huffed out a breath and rolled his eyes. Goddamn. Would anyone ever get over the stupid arc reactor?

"No," Tony said simply, and gave a shit-eating grin towards the glass.

"That is what I was expecting."

"Gonna try to kill me now?" Tony said, his voice full of far more confidence than he possessed.

"Ah, Mr. Stark. You underestimate me I would love to just take that little gem right out of your chest and have my way with it, but as I said - you are an investment."

"Fine by me. What's your plan now? Pleading, negotiating, torture, the whole shebang? My team will find me far before you break me, let me assure YOU," Tony spat out. He only hoped that they had already started looking - JARVIS would warn them and they would come. Steve wouldn't let them leave him. Steve -

"I have already put in motion some...distractions for your little 'team,' Mr. Stark. They will not be finding you quickly."

"You underestimate them."

"Perhaps. We will see."

"Now, creepy voice, why don't you tell me who the hell you are, I'm not going to deal with some disembodied guy who thinks he's all powerful and can just - "

"Boys," the voice interrupted. "Shut him up."

Tony's heart jumped in fear. "Noooo wait a goddamn second here I - FUCK!" Tony shouted as one of the guys smacked him across his cheek. He hit so hard that Tony's chair fell over with a metal clatter and his shoulder slammed painfully into the floor.

"Fuckity fucker," Tony breathed out, teeth clenched. The jolt had also twisted his foot - undoubtedly broken.

The other guy kicked the chair around, scraping Tony along the floor, and then gave him a kick to the stomach, making Tony's breath leave him and the edges of his vision black out.

"We will be back, Mr. Stark. I have something prepared for you."

"Oh good," Tony growled, still reeling from the kick to the abdomen, "I'd like a cheeseburger, milkshake, extra fries, glass of scotch and a goddamn cigar while you're out, honey."

There was no reply as the two silent men stalked towards the door, opening and shutting it just as quickly as before, leaving Tony on his side in the dark room.

"Bastard!" Tony shouted, and lay his head on the concrete. He gently breathed in and out, waiting for some of the pain to subside. Great. Now he was still stuck in the dark concrete cell with a demented dude calling the shots, tied to a chair with probably a broken foot and a broken rib. Perfect.

 

_=_=_=_=_

 

"I am sorry, Captain Rogers, there is no other evidence to go on."

"JARVIS, there HAS to be. These guys were terrible, they must have left something!"

"I am sorry, they were very clean."

"What else can you do? Can you track that car without the license plate?"

"I am currently scanning all traffic cameras for that vehicle."

"Well what else can I do?"

"There isn't anything to do, Steve," a soft voice came from behind him, and Steve felt a hand on his shoulder. Bruce had come back into the shop, where Steve had been for the last two hours, pacing, arguing with JARVIS.

"There has got to be something. All we have is that footage and that damn piece of paper! There has to be something else!" Steve brushed the hand away and walked a couple of steps, then stopped, dragging his hand over his face.

"Clint and Tash - ah, Natasha - are working with SHIELD and JARVIS to identify the guys that took him, there isn't anything on that paper except the handwriting, which we are cross-referencing with every handwriting sample the government has - which is illegal, I might add - and JARVIS just said he was searching for that car." Bruce sighed. The license plate had been a bust, they stole the plates off of someone else's car and ditched them a block away from the Stark Tower. They had basically nothing to go on except an amount of money someone thought was worth Tony's life.

"I can't just stand here and not DO anything," Steve said, still facing away.

"Steve, Tony has been held captive before - why is this time so different? We've all had our death threats. He's been kidnapped before, even. I mean, not from the tower, but - I'm just wondering why you're so concerned?" Bruce waited a moment, and then walked towards Steve, not touching him. He came around to face Steve and waited again for the Captain to speak.

"It's not different, you're right. It's happened before. It's fine," Steve said, not meeting Bruce's eyes.

"Steve, seriously, you're never like this, what's the problem - "

"Okay, yeah, it's happened before, and I was worried then, sure - we're all worried, I know but before - before I didn't - I wasn't - " Steve trailed off, still looking down. Bruce's eyebrows came together, trying to figure what Steve hadn't said, and then took a step back.

"Oh," was all he could say, and Steve's face shot up, fear and worry and truth written all over it.

"Oh. Okay. That's - that's okay, Steve. We will find him. There's no way we won't find him." Bruce almost stepped forward to touch Steve's shoulder, but didn't know if that would help. So he simply smiled, pulling a small smile in return across Steve's mouth.

"Okay," Steve said, and then looked up. "JARVIS, you find it yet?"

"Unfortunately not, Captain - but Agents Barton and Romanoff are receiving an encrypted message upstairs. I believe it to be from the kidnappers."

"Holy sh- okay, thank you JARVIS!" Steve said, charging from the room. Bruce watched him run, smiling despite the circumstance.

"JARVIS, did you know?" He asked the AI.

"Know what, Dr. Banner?"

"Sure... never mind."

 

_=_=_=_=_=_

 

The goons had come in again, picked Tony up off the floor and faced him towards the mirror. They hadn't said a word to him.

"Now, Mr. Stark you just sit there and look right ahead - I'll be sending a little message to your friends. They will be able to see you but not be able to hear you, so you don't need to worry your little head about giving them any hints as you where you are - though, you'd have to know where you are to give hints, wouldn't you?"

Tony decided to just glare instead of finding some sort of pithy comment to combat these crazy people. He stared straight ahead at the mirror, trying desperately to think of something - anything - to do that would help his team find him.

"Good afternoon, Avengers," the disembodied voice started. Okay, so it was afternoon. Tony guessed he'd been here for about 12 hours then.

"As you can see," his captor continued, "I have successfully captured and detained Tony Stark - your friendly Iron Man. I don't want much from you, just a measly 5 million."

Tony's eyebrows shot up at that - he hadn't heard about the money before. He was almost insulted - 5 mil was nothing. He was worth 20 mil at least.

"You won't find me, sorry, but it's no use trying. I'll be in touch."

Tony frantically moved his fingers, trying to convey information with the limited options he had. One of the goons noticed him moving and walloped him across the face again, landing him on his other side and smacking his other shoulder into the hard concrete floor.

"Thanks, buddy, now I'll have matching bruises!" Tony coughed out, cringing as the man came around to the front of him again, expecting to be kicked for NO reason again. With his eyes closed, he didn't see the look the two exchanged, or them walking towards the door. He heard it open, and he opened his eyes to see the two figures disappear into the brightness.

"Great," he said to himself, still stuck, tied to the chair on the floor.

 

_=_=_=_=_=_=_

 

"Pause it! Hold on! Go back."

Clint clicked, and the video went back a few seconds to where Tony started moving his fingers. He was tied to a metal chair and his hands had started going crazy. None of them had really been listening to the voice over the video - the demands were of no worry to them. Tony held their attention.

"Is he - okay, ten fingers, ten what?" Bruce asked.

"Ten, then he crosses his fingers - look - and ten again. Ten cross ten?" Steve said.

"Ten by ten - he's telling us how big the room is," Natasha said.

"It's cement too. And he's got twist ties around his wrists. JARVIS, start searching for buildings that have cement buildings that could potentially have ten by ten rooms? I know that's not a lot to go on," Bruce said.

"Thank you Dr. Banner. I will begin searching within the area they could have traveled between sir's disappearance and the receiving of the video." JARVIS said above them. "Would you like to me continue the video?"

"Yes," Clint said. Steve stared ahead, his brow furrowed and hands clenched at his sides. He inhaled sharply when he saw Tony get struck and fall to the ground.

"Steve," Bruce said gently, hand on his arm. Steve hadn't realized he was standing up.

"Rewind it," Steve said.

"Steve," Bruce said again.

"Rewind it."

"Steve, you don't have to - " Clint started.

"REWIND the damn tape," Steve said.

Clint sighed, looked at Bruce, and then rewound the video. Steve's eyes never left the screen, though his eyes flinched when Tony was struck the second time around.

"Is there anything else that we can learn from it?" Steve asked, his voice low.

"I'll watch it a few more times. You go talk with JARVIS about potentials." Bruce pushed a little at his arm, knowing that he would never move the super soldier even if he tried. Steve moved on his own accord, stalking out of the room. As the door slid shut behind him, Natasha, Clint and Bruce all shared a look.

"Well this shit just got more complicated," Clint said. Natasha just raised an eyebrow, and Bruce sat down heavily.

"Yeah," Bruce said.

 

_=_=_=_=_=_

 

Tony breathed in slowly, trying to keep the black at the edge of his vision at bay. He had been cut from the chair after hours on the floor, but now was being beat by the two huge silent idiots that had been watching him all day.

"That all you got, big boy?" Sometimes Tony hated the fact that he couldn't shut his goddamn mouth. 'Big boy' grabbed him by the neck again and slammed him into the wall.

"Ooh, that's better," he coughed, grinning despite the pain. Tony's continual goal was to piss off people that kidnapped him - he was pretty good at it, but these guys packed quite a punch.

"All right, boys, let him down." The voice was back, and Tony had started calling it 'Saucy,' because it was the first thing that popped into his head and it seemed to piss the voice off.

"Saucy! Nice to not see ya!" Tony said, as he was dropped to the floor.

"Mr. Stark. Since our methods so far have not persuaded you, and I have had sufficient time to prepare what I've had in store, we will now begin."

"Begin?! Jesus, you give quite a teaser. What's the main event? Fingernails? Breaking bones?" Tony wiped the blood from his mouth that had started bleeding at a right hook from Tweedle Dee while Tweedle Dum held him up.

"Nothing so barbaric."

The door opened again. "Oh hey, look! It's the third Jonas brother!" Tony was hauled to his feet and dumped back in the chair by a third guy, and his wrists tied again before he could catch his breath. Tony was sure that he had at least 3 broken ribs, possibly a broken nose, his stupid foot, and a raging headache. It was getting increasingly hard to breathe.

"This is something I have been waiting for, Mr Stark. This, hopefully, will let out all of your secrets."

Tony raised his eyebrows and then shouted in surprise when Tweedle Three pricked him with a needle.

"What the fuck, Saucy?" Tony said. "What is this, some sort of pain-inducing serum shit that'll scare me into talking? Hallucinogens? Even better, I did SO many of those in my twenties - "

"Wrong, Mr. Stark. It is a simple thing - a truth serum. Now, tell me. How did you come up with idea for the reactor?"

"Oh please. This is never going to work, Saucy."

"We shall see."

 

_=_=_=_=_=_

 

Steve stood outside the sixth building that they had hypothesized Tony was in. He was annoyed and frustrated and just wanted to freaking FIND him already.

"All right Cap, I've got your back. You going in?"

"Yeah," Steve said in reply to Hawkeye. He was up on the building behind him, his voice tinny on the com in Steve's ear. Steve strode towards the building, exuding a confidence he didn't feel. He was decked out in the red, white and blue, shield in hand, and crouched low at the wall to peer into a small window in the ground. It was dark now - it had taken several hours for JARVIS to go through everything, and with what little information they had, it was taking forever to find Tony.

Agents Hill, Romanov, and Sitwell were still at the previous building, giving it a thorough comb-over for Tony, but Steve knew he wasn't there. He could feel it.

The small window led into a brightly lit room, where a tall man stood in front of what looked like a huge window. There was some equipment in the room, and the man was in a long white coat, much like a doctor, and was grinning at something through the window. Steve shifted to see what he was looking at, but must have made a noise because the man turned sharply and shouted something when he saw Steve in the shadows. Steve jumped up and signaled Hawkeye that he was going in.

"You sure, Cap?"

"Yeah."

Steve tried to open the door. It was locked. He wasn't in the mood, so he broke it down. Some alarms started going off. He ignored them. Someone opened a door in his face. He knocked them to the ground and went through the door. There were stairs, and Steve headed down to find the room he had just been looking in. It was empty, but there was a door next to the huge window and through the glass -

"Tony," Steve exhaled, and ripped the door off it's hinges.

"You found him?!" Clint asked. "By the way, Cap, there are about twenty guys going in that door you just went it. Well, nineteen. Eighteen. Seventeen."

Steve tuned him out. "Tony!" He shouted as he knelt down next to the man, bound by twist ties, head on the steel table. He was bruised, his nose and lip bloodied, sweat dried on his skin. For a moment, Steve thought that he was dead - oh, how that made his insides twist - but then he saw Tony breathe.

"He's alive, but unconscious." Steve broke the ties around Tony's wrists and hauled him into his arms. "Tony, it's okay now, you're okay."

"Watch the foot, Cap, I think I broke it," Tony whispered.

"Tony! You're awake! Are you okay? I'm getting you out of here right now, I - "

Then the men Clint had warned him about burst in. There were about a dozen left, and they kept pouring into the room. Steve put Tony back in the chair and started giving them a lesson in hand to hand combat. Tony watched, wanting to help but not really able to move - plus, it was a rare occasion to see a pissed Captain America whoop some major ass in your honor.

In less than a minute, all of the men had been taken down and Steve turned to Tony again, lifting him as gingerly as he could.

"Okay, Tony, we're gonna get you out of here, just hold on."

Steve's voice was soothing, and even through the uniform he felt warm after that fucking room of steel and cement. Tony told himself that later he could blame the pain and shock, and nuzzled into Steve's chest, wrapping his arm weakly around Steve's shoulder. "Steve," he may have whispered, but he wasn't going to admit it.

"I've got him. Get the damn med people over here - he's beat up pretty bad," Steve said over the coms, then took the thing out of his ear. He walked slowly up the stairs with Tony in his arms, looking down at him. The thoughts in his head scared him, and the fact that Tony had buried his face in his chest confused him. But Tony was safe, and that was all he needed.

When he walked out of the building, he handed Tony (reluctantly) over to SHIELD medical.

"He'll be fine, Captain," one of the guys said, noting the concern on Steve's face.

"Sure," Steve said, and smiled.

"All right, let's see what goodies the crazy bad guy left us!" Clint said, running towards the building almost gleefully. Steve rolled his eyes, but followed him in. This case held a personal interest.

_=_=_=_=_

 

Tony only slept through the night, waking at a fairly human hour the next day. He was sore and taped together, but he could almost walk and was feeling much better now that he was out of that hellhole.

It had taken almost as much time to get through all the encrypted files on Saucy's computer - what he lacked in tactical brains and force he made up for by being fucking annoying as hell and a fucking computer genius. Tony was actually impressed, which like, never happened. Ever.

Tony had thrown his version of a fit when medical tried to tell him he couldn't leave and go help the team with the post-kidnapping duties; going over files, tracking down everyone involved, putting up better safety precautions. He had argued, cajoled, threatened and then (as it always seemed to end up) donated a huge sum of money to the SHIELD medical program and was on his merry way. Well, sort of. He was still in a wheel chair, that stupid table having broken his foot in two places, and had a little trouble breathing, but still. He was out the door faster than he probably should have been.

No one at the tower seemed surprised to see him so soon - they knew his thing about being kept against his will and his thing with hospitals. Steve practically ran over to the door as Tony wheeled himself in and took over, asking over and over if he was okay, if he was in pain, want a glass of water, typical Cap mother hen jabber. He didn't seem to remember and/or care that Tony had been nuzzling into his chest about 12 hours ago, and sat next to him in front of the main set up that JARVIS would play the recording on if they ever got it to work. Saucy had been kind enough to record everything that went on during Tony's kidnapping and while Tony didn't really want to watch himself get beat up, he was interested in Saucy's commentary. He also didn't remember all of it, so he wanted to know what went down.

Bruce and Steve were both adamant that he didn't need to watch it and it was okay if he wanted to leave, but Tony was both resilient and stubborn so he stayed exactly where he was. It was another 20 minutes until JARVIS had anything up on the screen, and Tony debated with him on how to clear the image up for a moment until the thing was playing, 10 feet across like a movie theater into Tony's personal hell.

Steve was sitting right next to Tony - he was so close he could hear him breathing and feel the heat of his arm next to his - but he still flinched when Tony came up on the screen, passed out on the floor in the dimly lit, well, cell of a room.

"Okay, yeah, I woke up laying down and it was hours before anyone came in. I woke up and starting yelling and shit, just fast forward, J, yeah yeah," Tony said as the tape sped up while JARVIS shifted it forward. "No one answered me and can I just point out how freaky and fucking annoying that is? These guys were terrible at this."

Steve almost smiled, but couldn't quite make it.

Tony then recognized himself trying to move that goddamn table through the window. Up to this point, no one knew that Tony had broken his own foot by his own stupidity, so he groaned and covered his eyes.

"What?" Steve asked, concerned. Then Clint laughed. Steve glared at him.

"Come on, man, he just dropped a table on his OWN foot. Stark, you are a class-A idiot."

"Okay, fine, birdbrain, but here they finally come," Tony said, pointing at the screen as Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum appeared, hauling him up.

"Blah blah blah, he's so cryptic and the boys are so silent and blah," Tony said, not really wanting to watch this after all. JARVIS scanned through the rest of the tape, only slowing to normal speed when Saucy was talking to Tony.

Though he was fine, and right next to him, Steve visibly stiffened and tensed every time Tony was hit or kicked or whatever by the two men. Tony noticed it after the first time, and put a reassuring hand on Steve's knee the second time, smiling a little at him. Steve looked down and then met Tony's eyes, breathing out as Tony smiled at him.

"I'm right here, Cap," Tony said softly.

"Good," Steve replied, making Tony raise an eyebrow.

Then the third guy showed up and Tony sat up a little in his chair. "Okay so here is what I don't remember, he injects me with something and the memory gets all fuzzed up. I can see myself talking but I have no idea what the hell I'm saying."

"Okay, JARVIS, can you keep a record of what they're saying?" Clint asked.

"That is already in progress, Agent Barton."

  
"This is something I have been waiting for, Mr Stark. This, hopefully, will let out all of your secrets," Saucy said over the video.

Tony raised his eyebrow along with his twin on the screen.

The third guy had a needle and all five of them leaned forward as he injected something in Tony's arm. Tony on the video continued talking, sassing his way along as usual.

  
"What the fuck, Saucy? What is this, some sort of pain-inducing serum shit that'll scare me into talking? Hallucinogens? Even better, I did SO many of those in my twenties - " 

"Wrong, Mr. Stark. It is a simple thing - a truth serum. Now, tell me. How did you come up with idea for the reactor?" 

"Oh please. This is never going to work, Saucy." 

"We shall see."  


"Okay so THIS is what I don't remember - " Tony started, but Natasha shushed him and Bruce put a warning hand on his shoulder to tell him to be quiet.

They watched in silence as Saucy questioned him about the arc reactor, Tony answering all of his questions with sarcasm, but was increasingly fidgety and nervous as the questions continued. He hadn't spilled anything yet, though.

"You don't remember this?" Bruce asked softly.

"Not a tick," Tony said, watching himself on the screen.

  
"You know I read somewhere or heard somewhere or fuck if I know that if you're trying to avoid telling someone something tell them a different secret and the truth will set you free," Video Tony said. 

"Really," Saucy replied. 

"Really really. Not that I think you'll actually understand any of the reactor's intricacies, it is quite complicated." 

"Complicated how?" 

Tony bit his lip. "Nope, not gonna catch me, Saucy pants. Sorry." 

"I can see that the drug is starting to affect you, Mr. Stark." 

"NOT at all, not at all." 

"Tell me how to build one." 

"Ha!" Video Tony said, but he was obviously uncomfortable and almost shaking. "Nope. I will tell you anything else but I will not tell you that. You want to know about my life? My parents? My emotionally abusive father?"  


Real Tony jerked backwards at that, and Steve placed a warm hand on his arm. Tony never ever talked about his father, and now everyone in the room knew why.

  
"I do not care about your childhood troubles, Mr. Stark, though I'm sure they were numerous," Saucy said, sounding annoyed. 

"Oh I have troubles now too, you know." Video Tony said, squinting. 

"Yes, I want to know about the now." 

"Well how's this? I was totally happy, fine, living my life as Iron Man and Tony Stark and all that fucking jazz until I went and fucking fell in love with Captain America. How's that for trouble?"  


Steve's mouth fell open and Tony's eyes grew so wide they hurt. Clint slowly turned around to look at him and Natasha and Bruce glanced at each other.

"What?" Steve whispered, still staring at the screen.

"I - I - " Tony started, but his other self was still talking over him.

  
"Mr. Stark I do not care about your love affair, however enticing it may be - " 

"Oh, it's a problem, Saucy, believe me you. Cause already the guy is like, perfect and intimidating and fucking the most beautiful fucking thing I've ever set my eyes on but then I fucking have to figure out that I must be in love with him because what else does it mean when I get butterflies FUCKING BUTTERFLIES when he touches me or looks at me or says 'Tony' instead of 'Stark' and how I can't go a day without talking to him and I'm always thinking about him and I just feel BETTER when he's around even if he's not talking or even paying attention to me like fuck what else could that MEAN and it's been going on for - for months, a year, I don't know whenever the fuck the Chitari attacked and I woke up and he was THERE in front of me and I realized that I was really fucking fucked."  


Tony felt trapped. He already was having trouble breathing and now he felt like he couldn't breathe at all and he was in this goddamn chair and couldn't leave very easily and Steve was RIGHT THERE, staring at Tony's past self proclaiming his deeply secret, never to see the light of day, buried forever love.

"Shit," Tony said. "Shit shit shit shit. Okay, you guys can review this without me and I'll be going back to my stuff for things and I have to go okay bye now shit," Tony pushed the wheels past Steve, still not looking at Tony, and Bruce, and out the door and into the corridor and AWAY from whatever the fuck had just happened.

"Steve?" Bruce asked.

"Yeah?" Steve breathed out. JARVIS had paused the video, and Tony was caught in blurry motion, still talking.

"Uh, you okay?"

"JARVIS, can you rewind to right before Tony says my name?" Steve asked, glancing up.

"Of course, Captain."

No one else said anything. No one really knew if they were supposed to say anything. The video started playing again, and the Tony on the screen began to speak.

  
"Well how's this? I was totally happy, fine, living my life as Iron Man and Tony Stark and all that fucking jazz until I went and fucking fell in love with Captain America. How's that for trouble?" 

"Mr. Stark I do not care about your love affair, however enticing it may be - " 

"Oh, it's a problem, Saucy, believe me you. Cause already the guy is like, perfect and intimidating and fucking the most beautiful fucking thing I've ever set my eyes on but then I fucking have to figure out that I must be in love with him because what else does it mean when I get butterflies FUCKING BUTTERFLIES when he touches me or looks at me or says 'Tony' instead of 'Stark' and how I can't go a single goddamn day without talking to him and I'm always thinking about him and I just feel BETTER when he's around even if he's not talking or even paying attention to me like fuck what else could that MEAN and - "  


Steve was out the door before Bruce realized he was moving. Clint looked up, paused the video and smiled.

"Well, that takes care of that problem. I guess it's down to us to actually figure out what else was said?"

"As long as Stark doesn't keep going on about Steve. I might puke," Natasha said, sitting down on the table next to Bruce, close enough to touch.

Bruce smiled a little, shyly, and told JARVIS to keep playing the tape.

_=_=_=_=_=_

The elevator was already going down by the time Steve made it out of the room. He should have just followed Tony right away but was caught between wanting to talk to him and wanting to hear him say it again, even if it was just a recording. He would have to go back and listen to the whole thing again, over and over, especially if - if -

Steve was running down the stairs now, hoping he could catch the injured genius at shop - JARVIS had politely ensured Steve knew which floor Tony was stopping on. Surprise surprise, it was the shop, where he usually escaped to, blasting AC/DC and locking himself in for hours.

Tony had a minute head start on him, but Steve was fast and only landed on every sixth stair or so. When he reached the floor Tony was on, he yanked open the door to see Tony rolling out of the elevator. Tony looked up at him with wide, terrified eyes, and then looked back down. He didn't stop moving, rolling past Steve towards the door to his shop.

"Tony," Steve said, and reached out to stop the wheelchair with his hand. Tony stopped only because he knew it would be futile to try and move with Captain America holding you in place. Instead of the awkward hallway what-did-you-mean talk, Steve pushed him forwards towards the door, and Tony keyed in his code without looking back at Steve. They entered the shop together, and Steve rolled him over to the table and couch Tony had in the corner for late nights and, more recently, for Steve to come down and draw while Tony worked.

Tony shifted over, lifting himself up and clumsily sitting on the couch, waving off the hand Steve held out. Tony still wouldn't look at him. Steve remained standing, and started to pace absentmindedly.

"Steve, I - "

"Sh," Steve said. Tony obeyed for once. Well, he shut up for about a minute, and tried again.

"Steve, come on, I just -

"Tony," Steve said, and was now kneeling in front of him, finger on Tony's lips. Tony had to seriously control the urge to peek his tongue out and lick it.

"Tony, you may have been under that stupid truth serum stuff but tell me honestly - did you mean any of that?" He asked, as he put his hands down on either side of Tony's legs.

Tony just looked at him for a second, drowning in those blue-sky eyes that he could never get enough of. He had never told Steve, or anyone for that matter, but Steve's eyes reminded him of the soft blue glow of the reactor.

"Fuck. Fine. Yes. I did. Every fucking word. I just - I couldn't just TELL you, I didn't know how you would - "

Steve shut him up again, but this time with a kiss.

"...react?" Tony finished, sounding suddenly unsure. "Well that was not what I was expecting."

Steve just looked at him for a moment and kissed him again.

"Wait, I - " Tony started, but couldn't get it out as a super soldier was currently dipping his tongue into Tony's mouth. Tony sighed out and brought his hands up to grab at Steve's shirt. He got lost in the kiss for a second and then pulled back.

"Steve! What the fuck."

"What? Is this a problem? I thought you said - "

"Well, yeah, I know what I said but what about you? You - you felt - feel - "

"I may have had more than one reason to come down here so often and spend time with you, yes," Steve said, before leaning in again.

"But you - " Tony started again, but was silenced...again. He could see a pattern forming and he wasn't exactly complaining. Steve pushed him backwards, leaning him into the couch and ended up in Tony's lap, straddling him, running his hands through his tousled hair and giving Tony a huge fucking hard on. It was so fucking hot Tony didn't know what to do with himself. Steve leaned in more, putting his weight on Tony, and Tony gasped in pain.

"Oh sh- Tony, I'm sorry, I forgot, I shouldn't - " Steve started, and Tony grabbed him before he got up.

"No, stay, please for the love of Christ do NOT stop what you were just doing," Tony said, capturing his lips again. Steve made a noise like a whine and Tony filed that away for future reference. Tony ran his hands down Steve's glorious body, touching all the pieces he had secretly dreamt of - pecs, abs, arms, thighs, and hello...

"Tony!" Steve gasped when Tony found his cock. Steve didn't move off, instead leaned his head down to Tony's shoulder, breathing heavily. Well if that wasn't an ego trip, Tony didn't know what was - making Captain America short on breath was a feat he was sure few had ever accomplished. He started palming Steve while kissing his neck, biting as he went along. Steve made these delicious little noises as he moved and reached his own hand down to feel Tony hardening himself. Tony gasped and stuttered a bit when Steve touched him, but it turned into a groan as they matched each other's rhythm. Steve suddenly moved back and got off the couch, kneeling between Tony's legs.

"Holy fucking goddamn shit that is a sight I was sure I'd never see in real life."

Steve quirked an eyebrow. "Have you seen it somewhere else?"

"Oh yeah, I've imagined this a hundred times. In a dozen positions. Usually in the shower."

Steve blushed at the thought of Tony pleasuring himself to images of Steve. "I like that," Steve said, and unbuttoned Tony's fly, breathing warmth over him.

"Jesus," Tony breathed out, eyes wide and pupils blown.

"Is this - is this okay?" Steve asked, suddenly unsure.

"Steve, you're kidding, right?"

"Well, I don't know, Tony, you've apparently been in LOVE with me since the Battle of New York, you never showed anything, I didn't have any idea even though I desperately wanted to - "

"Steve, baby, I'm - I'm sorry." Steve's chest bloomed in warmth when Tony called him that. "Steve, I'm so bad at emotions and shit. You should know. And you can't really talk, since you apparently liked me all along too."

"Loved. Love. I love you," Steve corrected, and reveled in the sight of rendering Tony speechless.

"Well fuck me," Tony said, leaning back against the couch again.

"Okay," Steve said, and was on top of him again, kissing the breath out of his lungs. Steve was almost annoyingly gentle this time, and helped Tony out of his jacket, his shirt, kissing and tenderly touching the edge of each bandage and wrap around him. Steve couldn't get his pants or boxers all the way off easily without removing his cast, so he simply slid them down past his knees - tortuously slowly - and had Tony in his mouth before Tony could properly prepare himself.

Tony let out a litany of curses and noises and words, gibberish, lovely gibberish that was so Tony that Steve hadn't been expecting anything else. Tony eventually started pulling at Steve's clothes, and Steve relented, standing to remove his own shirt and pants and boxers - which were of the American flag and which Tony planned on teasing him about FOREVER but after this.

Steve was hard and throbbing, gently lifting Tony to get his pants the rest of the way off and switching their positions so that Tony was on his lap, Steve's cock warm and thick between Tony's ass cheeks.

"Are you - have you - oh fuck, Steve, you are so fucking sexy I can't stand it. Just please fuck me, we'll talk later and figure this out later and PLEASE - "

"Okay, okay, slow down," Steve said, a fond grin on his face. "Do you have any - "

"Yes, like everywhere, I have it hidden all over the place from when I slept around a lot - there's some in the drawer in the table."

Steve huffed a laugh and reached back to pull a bottle of lube from the table. he popped it open with a flick of his fingers and dripped some onto his hand, then reaching down between them to trace Tony's hole.

Tony gasped, throwing his head back. "Shit!" He said, biting his lip.

Steve almost got distracted watching Tony react, but slipped his fingers inside, one, two and then three after Tony's begging. He pulled his hand out and wrapped it around himself, slicking himself up before aligning himself under Tony. Tony was breathing hard and his eyes were wild with lust - Steve wanted to memorize every moment of this, but hopefully this would not be the only time they would experience this.

"Come on, baby, come on," Tony said, and Steve kissed his mouth again, tasting him. He slid himself inside Tony slowly, Tony groaning into the kiss, until he came to a stop all the way inside. He had to restrain himself, trying not to move until Tony was comfortable.

"Move, you bastard," Tony growled into his mouth, and Steve had always been fairly good at following orders.

It was an explosion of heat and lust and want and the release of all those months of build up, and Tony knew he was not going to last long, especially if Steve kept making those damn noises. The blond was sighing into every thrust, angling himself to hit Tony in all the right places.

"Steve, I - "

"Me too."

Steve started thrusting harder and then curled his fingers around Tony's own hardness, pumping in rhythm. Tony, if he had been able to think, would have marveled at Steve's coordination. Both came close to each other, Tony first and then they just sat there, breathing heavily. Steve didn't pull out and Tony didn't want to move ever again. Now that the high of sex was dying down his soreness was coming back, and he wrinkled his eyes shut in annoyance.

"What?" Steve asked.

"Nothing, I'm just - I'm sore."

"Oh, sweetheart, I shouldn't have - I should have waited til you were better."

"Um, no. Definitely not. That was totally 100% worth it. And I like it when you call me that."

"Good," Steve whispered in his ear, making him shiver.

"What now?" Tony asked.

"Well," Steve said, pulling back so he could meet Tony's eyes. "Dinner tonight, and then a repeat performance?"

Tony laughed, kissing him. "Yes. Perfect. Good."

"But nothing crazy until you heal."

"Steee-eeeve," Tony whined out, still smiling.

"No. I'm serious."

"Fine. But I hope you know I like kinky stuff."

Steve's pulse spiked despite himself. "Really."

"Oh yeah - the things I could show you..."

"Show me when you're better."

"Killjoy."

"Irresponsible."

"Stuffy."

"Baby."

"My baby."

"...yeah."

**Author's Note:**

> So I know the bad guy is kinda lame, and Steve is sort of one dimensional, but I just had the idea one day and needed to get it out. Hope you liked it. :D


End file.
